Inermis
by Nightlightiscoolbro
Summary: Hiccup the Useless has a secret identity, Inermis. By day, the "useless" nerd, by night the heart-stopping dancer. But as Astrid comes closer to the truth, has the time for secrets expired? ModernAU, Toothless still there. Wanted to try it. DISCLAIMER: There will come a time when I own all creative material (evil laugh), but today is not that day.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

Man, nights are hectic.

What with homework, being bullied, and dancing, my evenings are packed.

My name, as you probably don't know, is Hiccup. I know, right? Hiccup. Such a weird name. But it's certainly not as bad as it could be. Buttface. That'd be a pretty bad name.

In case you didn't figure it out, I am a dancer. One of the best in the country, or so I'm told. But I hate bragging, and I really think that most people are better than me. So I don't really talk about my dancing to anyone. They don't need to know. Plus, I wouldn't feel comfortable if everyone started swarming me.

Alongside dancing, I am the highest scoring Honors student in my grade. All AP classes. You know what that means? Work. Lots of work. On my way home from school, I walk with my body at a right angle because my backpack is so filled with books and papers.

And then there's the bullying. To explain this, I'll have to go into story mode:

_Once upon a time, in a time too distant to tell, I was bo-_

Scratch that. Let's try something else.

_It was a dark and stormy-_

No, that's not it! One last try, and we're callin' it quits!

_At one point in my life, people didn't hate me._

There, that's better.

_I had friends. Sort of. More like acquaintances. We were all very different. They were tough, I was weak. They... weren't the smartest, I was top of the class. They liked sports, I liked art. You get the point._

_But then, I got accepted to Falsus Apello Performing Arts School. And so did they._

_You would think that that wouldn't change anything. But my "friends" weren't as humble as I am. They became snooty and pretentious, shunning me, thinking, "What has he done to get here?"_

The thing is, they've never seen me, Hiccup, actually dance before. Or any of my talents for that matter. Not in front of their judgmental and greedy stares.

_And so they ditched me. At that point, I didn't really mind, because they were being so mean to me._

_That hasn't stopped, though. All my old friends are now the bullies who torment me every single day._

The funny thing is, though, they're absolutely infatuated with this guy Inermis. He's this wildly popular dancer down at the Cove, the best club in town, and he performs every night in between his homework and being bullied.

Sound familiar?

Yep. I, weak-ole Useless, am the famous Inermis. I dance, I sing, I make girls swoon and clutch their pearls.

All from behind my masquerade.

I wanted to dance in front of an audience, but I didn't want people to know it was me. My mother and I came up with the cover of Inermis. Well, she helped me with the basic idea, but she passed away sadly before we could get a name.

I miss my mother. She's been gone for so long. My father is hardly around anymore, so I have no one at home. She was my only friend, telling me everything would be okay and that we could get ice cream after practice.

Anyways, the word Inermis is Latin for _toothless_. I decided to call myself this for two reasons: 1.) I love Latin, and I'm pretty good at it. 2.) It's after my dragon, Toothless.

I didn't start this whole operation until a few months ago, right around the time I met Toothless.

Story time!

_I was exploring the forest, by myself, to avoid Snotlout (another bad name) and his gang of bullies. There were these fallen and smashed up trees that made a path to a clearing. And in the clearing, lay a large, black, injured Night Fury._

Woah, right? Random Night Fury up for grabs?

_I could have- should have- killed it. But... There was something about that dragon. It just reflected me in so many ways. It was frightened by the creature in front of it, as was I. It didn't want to kill, just be left alone. Me too._

_Toothless was not the friendliest at first, for when I was finished cleaning and treating the dragon's tail fin, he pounced on me. His deep green eyes narrowed into slits, and he bared his teeth, growling a throaty gurgle. He roared then, a loud screeching thing, and left, bounding away._

_"Holy crap!" I thought, trying to walk away, but fainting._

_The next day, after a torturous day at school, everyone in my class- Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Astrid (the bullies)- was gathered for a safety class concerning- you guessed it- dragons. How convenient._

_"And he bit my arm clean off! Word musta spread because a month later, another one got my leg!" my teacher, Gobber said._

Gobber. An interesting man. His other students call him Mr. Belch, but we, the "lucky" class, get to call him by his first name. He doesn't really teach anything about dancing. More like yelling out instructions. But that's a-okay in my book because then I don't really have to reveal my skills. Well, I revealed them to the administrators and teachers, but that was to get into the school.

Aside from teaching, he also runs a club called the Cove. Yes. I perform at my teacher's dance club.

_"Psch! That's nothing! My cousin lost both her arms and her head!" Ruff said._

_"Uh, Ruff... She's dead," Tuff murmured in her ear._

_"Oh... Doesn't that count?"_

_"No, Ruffnut, that does not count."_

_"Big deal! I could have killed that thing without losing any limbs. I'll chop off their legs. With my face!" Snotlout griped._

_"Oh, see, that's where you're wrong. It's the wings and tail fins ya want to go for. A downed dragon is a dead dragon. There! That's today's lesson," Gobber said._

_This got me thinking. The dragon I had found the day before had lost a tail fin. It couldn't fly. He wouldn't be able to survive._

_"Excuse me, Gobber?" I asked._

_Everyone turned to me and gave me an annoyed glare._

_"Yes, Hiccup?" he replied, his Scottish accent tweaking his words._

_"May I be excused?" I said._

_He looked surprised, but answered, "Certainly."_

_I grabbed my green satchel-like messenger bag and sketchbook, and flew out the door. I felt a stare on my back as I left. I flicked my eyes over to see who it was and was surprised to see the culprit was Astrid._

_Of course, it wasn't a crush-y stare. It was a suspicious, "What are you doing, Useless?" stare._

_Sometimes I walk home. Sometimes I ride the bus. Luckily, today was a day when I brought my bike. I hopped on the black frame and beat it before they could figure out I'd left._

_I biked down the street, turning a corner or two, when I reached my house._

_My house is, like every other house on Berk, ridiculously dangerous. In our age of technology, we still have completely wooden houses and we fight with dragons. Construction companies adore our island because we always need something rebuilt._

_My dad, being the mayor, was not home. I ran in without worry, found some fish leftover from dinner, and ran to the forest behind my house._

_I quickly located where I'd found the Night Fury the other day, and followed the path of his tracks._

_The trees opened into a giant expanse of cove. There were humongous tree roots draped along the sides of the rock walls. I saw a large lake on the floor of the whatever-it-is as I climbed down on rock ledges._

_There, hanging from a tree branch, was something along the lines of a mammoth-sized bat. So a Night Fury._

_"Hey, bud. Remember me? From yesterday?" I called out._

_I stood with my back to a large rock, holding the fish out in front of me. There was scraping behind me._

_"Aah!" I shouted. Out of the corner of my eye, BOOM, there he was!_

_I backed up out of fear, and it came closer._

_He growled and looked at my abdomen. Could dragons smell metal? I dug in my pocket and pulled out my Swiss Army knife. As soon as he saw it, he hunched down and growled harder._

_My brain made the connection: Dragons do not want to die; knives cause death._

_I dropped it, and when that wasn't enough, I picked it up with my foot and tossed it into the lake._

_With the only thing I had to protect myself gone, the dragon sat down on its haunches like a dog and looked at me expectantly._

_The fish! I had nearly forgotten in my mental panic. I extended it out toward him and his mouth came toward it in a slithering motion._

_His mouth opened and revealed his-_

_Gums? "Huh... I could have sworn you had-"_

_Teeth sprang out of his gums immediately and sunk into the fish. He yanked it away from my hand and swallowed it whole, turning then to observe my reaction._

_"Teeth," I near murmured._

_Then his eyes went cross-eyed and he started_- don't you DARE laugh at this- _hiccuping._

_And then he barfed a half-eaten fish onto my lap._

_"Eew."_

_He looked at me as if to say, "You gonna eat it or what?"_

_"Oh, what, you want- ugh, fine."_

_I hesitantly raised the uncooked, half-eaten fish to my mouth, hoping that the dragon would decide that I'd proven myself. He didn't._

_I bit into the rubbery-ness of uncooked fish. Gagging, I held out the rest of the fish and said, "Mmm!"_

_But that wasn't good enough for the rotten reptile._

_"Oh, come on!" I shouted through the fish._

_His look didn't change, so I forced myself to swallow it. Shuddering, I nearly threw up._

_His ears perked up as his eyes asked, "Well?"_

_I smiled and nodded as a response. He looked quizzical, but then his mouth started to twitch and raise, almost as if he were smiling..._

_I felt compelled to touch him suddenly. Reaching out my hand, his smile dropped and he ran to the other side of the cove._

_That went well. After chasing him over and trying again, he ran off and did his bat-like thing. Wondering what to do, I sat down and picked up a stick._

_One of my talents is drawing. So I sketched him, Toothless. Toothless. An ironic name, but that is just what I decided to call him. In a way, both of our names are adjectives describing a part of ourselves. Toothless described his soft side. Hiccup described my awkward side._

_I felt a presence behind me. I glanced to my right and saw Toothless looking over my shoulder at my drawing. He seemed pleased._

_Continuing drawing, I felt him leave. I glanced over my shoulder to see where he'd gone. To my surprise, he was ripping a tree from the ground. Staggering under its wait, Toothless went over to the dirt and placed the end of the stem on the ground. He began twirling it around, dragging it across the dirt like a brush or pen._

_Like a pen! He was... He was drawing! Remarkable!_

_Toothless swirled the tree around me, creating a circle. Lines crossed over previous lines, creating a tangle of angles._

_Toothless dropped the tree trunk and looked at me expectantly. "Well," he seemed to say, "you like it?"_

_I tried to step forward, but Toothless growled. I looked down to see that I'd stepped on one of his lines. I warily raised my foot from the line._

_Toothless's expression lightened again. I had an idea, and I decided to test it._

_I put my foot down again. His expression was meaner than the first time. I raised my foot. Happiness and easy-going-ness replaced his look of hatred._

_I tried it two more times. His reactions were exaggerated each time. Until finally I stepped in the empty space on the other side of the line. He pulled his head back as a symbol that he was pleased._

_I continued to put my feet in the blank spaces of dirt, almost making a dance of it. Then I felt a huffing presence behind me. There, behind, my back, was Toothless. He stared at me as if that had been his plan all along. I reached out my hand. He pulled back and growled. Finally, I decided to take a leap of faith. I closed my eyes, turned my head, and stuck my hand out fully._

_Hot breath encircled my palm, and then a scaly pressure pushed my hand. I glanced up at Toothless, then hid my face farther in relief._

_The pressure left my hand. Toothless snorted, then left._

_Woah, I thought._

From then on, I've been making equipment that will help him fly. As we test, we've become the best of friends, although I'm sure that we're the only friends the each of us have.

And so now, I'm the dancing, singing, heart-stopping, drawing, and, most of all, flying boy who keeps it all a secret.

Cool, right?

So... You understand my relationship with Toothless, the bullies, and my mother. Two more to go.

My father. As said before, he is the mayor of our village-town-thing. He's always been very passive about my dancing. Never really cared. He hasn't told me to stop, but he has never told me he's proud. After my mom died, though... He's hardly ever home, and when he does, he doesn't look at me, hardly speaks. It's awful.

And finally, Astrid. The girl of my dreams. She's smart, she's an extremely good dancer, she's tough, and she's beautiful. She's amazing.

Lot to take in. But that's the life of Inermis.


	2. Chapter 2: Illusion

I went to my normal gig at the Cove. Tonight was Saturday, a night where someone in the audience would pick what I was doing.

"Hello, Hiccup. Here's your costume," said Goober. His Scottish accent made the word _costume_ sound like two words.

My costume was not really a costume. I wore a black hoodie, with two flaps on the hood that somewhat looked like bunny ears, but were really dragons ear-plates. This covered my auburn hair, face, chest, and arms. Black skinny jeans masked my legs and anus. Black sneakers hid my feet. My hands were hidden in black gloves. As an extra precaution to hide my identity, I wore a mask that kind of looked like the one from _the Phantom of the Opera_ over my eyes. I could still see; it really just covered my cheekbones. Which was kind of dumb. If they see my face, hidden cheekbones wouldn't make a difference.

I took the clothes and said, "Spill it."

Gobber sighed and said, "It's just that you have so much talent! You could shut up Snotlout and those bullies forever with your dancing! Why do you let them say things like that?"

It was my turn to sigh. "They don't need to know. If it gets too bad, I'll think of something."

Gobber paused in thought. Then he spoke and said, "Alright, I trust your judgement. Just don't let it get too bad."

"What do you think it'll be tonight?" I asked.

Members of the audience were allowed, only on Saturdays, to pick the song and theme of dance. It could be a hassle. The weirdest request yet (that I had politely refused) was someone asking me to dance to "I'm Too Sexy."

"Let's see."

I went over behind a curtain in the backstage area we were in and started changing my clothes.

"We've got some weird ones tonight. One person wants you to 'SHOW YOUR FACE, GOSH DANGIT!' They're gettin' aggressive!" Gobber said, sifting through a hat that was filled with everyone's votes.

My mind briefly flicked to Astrid... What would she pick for me to dance? No, scratch that, for Inermis to dance. If she picked.

"Ready." I said, stepping from behind the curtain with my clothes and itchy mask on.

"Set?"

"Go!" This was a little game Gobber and I played when things were about to get serious.

"Heelllooo, everybody! Are you havin' a good time tonight?!" Gobber shouted, losing the Scottish accent.

The large club was packed full of people, all screaming wildly now because they knew it was time for Inermis to show.

"I'll take that as a yes! But are you ready to see Inermis?" Louder screaming this time. Mostly female, but there was something definitely male in there.

"I would like a drumroll please!" Everyone rapped their hands on their thighs, expecting Inermis.

But instead, they got the hat. Gobber reached into the hat, rummaged around a bit, and finally pulled out a white slip of paper.

"Tonight's performance has been selected by..." he paused, reading the words on the paper, "Astrid Hofferson!"

Astrid, standing close to the edge of the stage, looked utterly enthralled. I was dancing to the theme and song she'd picked.

"Inermis, would you come out here? I think we may want to see your expression when you hear this," Gobber laughed. The crowds erupted again as I hesitantly stepped through the curtain and gave a shy wave.

"Astrid here would like you to... Illustrate the words to the song the dart picks! Wait, wha?"

Astrid looked sheepish. I tapped on Gobber's shoulder and signed to him to bring her up here.

This will require two explanations. Gobber and I use sign language so we can communicate in front of an audience without revealing who I am. Most people think it's for just that reason. Others think it's because I'm "deaf".

I wanted Astrid up there for two other reasons. One, the more obvious, so she could explain her request. Two, because I've always had a hopeless crush on her. Of course, she's never shown even remote interest in me. Even when we were friends. But we went through this already.

"Astrid, Inermis would like you to come on stage to..." He paused, waiting for me to explain. I signed, "To explain the note."

"To explain the note, he says!"

A huge smile plastered on her face, she confidently ran on stage, skidding to a stop right in front of me. She stared directly into my eyes, as my hood was angled so she could see them, and I stared right back. God, she's beautiful, I thought. But then something flashed in her eyes, something like surprise, and I pulled my hood over my eyes, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "Not today," I signed. This happened in three seconds.

She turned to Gobber, slightly spooked, still excited. "What I meant by 'illustrate the words' is that you kinda act out the words. Like 'I raise my flag,' would be like you, well, raising a flag. Pulling down on the rope, something like that. And 'to the song the dart picks' means that Inermis must wear a blindfold and throw a dart at your song selection to pick the song."

"Alright, Inermis, let's get you blindfolded!" Gobber shouted, starting to go behind the curtain.

"Wait!" Astrid called after him.

"What is it? Do I have a troll on my back?!"

"No. I just have my own blindfold he could use." She pulled a black scarf off her neck. It had tiny dragons embroidered on it. She handed it to me, but I held out my hand, asking her with my hands to tie it herself.

Happily, she tied it around my eyes. Tightly. It was like she was ripping my face off.

"Ow!" I said.

The whole place went silent. "What's wrong?" I signed to Gobber, who had stopped dead in his tracks.

"You spoke, boy. You're in trouble now."

"Crap," I signed. I smacked my hand against my face, but was careful not to show my myself.

The crowd began murmuring about my voice. I can't explain how weird that felt. They said it was nasally, deep, girly, any adjective you can think of.

"Alright, that's enough. You're all wrong! We have a mic on him that alters his voice!" Gobber lied. The crowd grumbled in disappointment.

"Done," Astrid said.

"Thanks," I signed, "you can go back to your... place on the ground."

Gobber translated for her, and she gladly did as she was told. But not before stopping in front of me like she wanted to say something and then going back to the ground.

Not being able to see at all, I was led over to the song selection and handed a dart.

"You have to spin around nine times first!" Astrid shouted from the quiet audience.

The unknown person laughed and spun me around nine times. New dance.

I threw the dart, hoping it would land on a good song. When I heard the thunk, I took off the blindfold carefully so as not to show my face. The man who had spun me was Gobber, and he looked amused by what I'd landed on.

"Didn't even know we had this track! Oh well, by request, you are stuck with it. You have ten minutes to prepare. Go!" he said.

I finally got a look at what the dart had landed on. "Illusion" by Ross Lynch. Seriously? We had that track?

But I had to do this. So I waved to the audience and a blushing Astrid as I went behind the curtain.

I listened to the song twice before I thought of a good enough routine. Quickly, I changed into a different costume, as this would be more appropriate for the theme. A magician's costume. Sort of. Kind of a cross between magician and evil sorcerer. A dark cloak with a hood to cover my face, white gloves, black tights, black boots, etc.

I had the technicians set up an invisible tight-rope. This would help.

Before I stepped out, I told JD, our DJ, to have the song ready, and I told Luna to be ready with the lights.

I walked out on stage and the audience immediately went silent.

I got into position. The lights dimmed, and, just like that, the music started.

I bowed as Lynch said, "I'll be your entertainer, I'm puttin' on a show."

Here comes the tricky part, I thought. As he said, "I'm going to levitate cha," I jumped up and grabbed the tight-rope, which they couldn't see, swung over it, landed on my feet, and continued dancing. The audience gasped. It was as if I was floating.

Dancing on the tight-wire was fun, really. I hopped down when he said, "Step right up, on the stage," and pretended to walk up stairs. When he said, "Free yourself, from the cage," I flipped backwards in the middle of my step. I held out my hands as if to splay cards for the next line.

"It's just an illusion," he sang. I threw down a smoke bomb, which allowed me to get back on the tightrope before anyone could see me move.

As he sang about disappearing then reappearing, I jumped, tucked, and rolled to point at the floor I had been standing on before.

I shrugged my shoulders and free-danced a little bit to the beat.

I wagged my finger at his words and then assumed the classic genie stance. Snapping my fingers, I tucked and rolled over to another part of the stage. I then acted like a clock, my left arm the hour hand, my right the minute. I raised my arms in a grand gesture, then rolled on the floor in a break-dance move.

The song and dance continued. As it turns out, the song is pretty repetitive, so I used some of the same moves, but with new tweaks that made it seem entirely new and impressive.

I was amazingly grateful when the song was finally over.

The audience erupted in cheers. Some, most, screamed in delight. I had to admit, that had been one of the most fun performances I'd ever had.

The lights brightened back up. I could see everyone in the entire club now. There must have been hundreds.

Someone towards the back started a chant of, "Who are you? Who are you?"

The whole crowd joined in, as I'd made it clear long ago I didn't do encores.

Being the person I am, I decided to compromise. I put my hand up to silence them, which they did, and raised it to my head.

The weight in the room shifted towards the stage, waiting for me to take off my hood to reveal myself.

I pulled back my hood and...

Revealed my other hood.

The audience sighed in disappointment, but I didn't care. This was fun, teasing them like this.

I waved my hand in goodbye and left the stage to a cheering crowd.

If only Hiccup was this way.

**HEY GUYS, IT'S ME! I'M SO IMPRESSED WITH THE RECEPTION OF THIS STORY. FOR THOSE HOPELESS ROMANTICS, I GOT MORE COMING. LOVE YOU GUYS!**


	3. Chapter 3: Ignorance

I rubbed what was left of the sleep out of my eyes as I sat down on the ground for class the on Monday.

First period was dance with Gobber. With, of course, the jerks and Astrid.

"Stretch! We're having a rough class today," Gobber shouted as he walked into class.

I sat my bag in my cubby and stretched my legs. Astrid sat down on the other side of the mat and did toe-touches.

Snotlout sat down next to me. "Morning, Useless. What'd you do this weekend? Sit around and be a dork?"

I rolled my eyes and did the splits. "I went to see Inermis."

"Oh, really? We were all there too!" Fishlegs said.

"He was amazing! I can't believe he danced to what I picked on Saturday! God, I wish I knew who he was. I have a giant crush on him."

That was Astrid. She had a crush on me?! Well, Inermis, but still!

"Alright, class. I know Inermis is amazing, but we have class. Today we will be pairing up. Ruff and Tuff. Snot and Legs. Hiccup and Astrid," Gobber announced, leaning against his desk.

The others, especially Astrid, shot icy daggers at me. I had to... dance, I guess? With Astrid.

"Uhm, excuse me, Gobber? Can I work with someone else?" I said.

"I second that motion," Astrid called out.

"Nope. All decisions are final. Would you like to know what you are doing?" he replied to our requests.

We silently glared at our instructor as a response.

"Thought so. I've become inspired by my close and personal friend Inermis. He does a lot of acrobatics in his work, yes?"

"Hot acrobatics," Tuff said dreamily.

Eww.

"That's what we're going to do. With your partner, you're going to practice acrobatics. Later on, we'll move on to a bar or tight-rope or something to continue practicing."

I hated Gobber at that moment. For pairing me with my crush. For talking about Inermis. For making me do stunts in front of the class.

"Get to work, ya numbskulls!" Gobber said when we didn't move. We rushed to our partners, the weirdest being Snotlout and Fishlegs.

"Uhh... Hi, Astrid? Where do you want to work?" I said to her. She crossed her arms over her dance shirt and sighed, "I can't believe I'm stuck with you. Oh well. Let's go over here." She led me to the edge of the huge mat where no one else was.

"Ladies first," I said.

She sighed. "Help me do a handstand, Useless."

And so I helped her. She was so talented she didn't need it, but I sensed she didn't want to get in trouble for leaving me out. But I noticed something wrong about her stance as I helped.

"You bend your legs too much. A handstand should be straight, like this." I moved her legs to the correct position. Heat shot down my arms at the contact. She nearly toppled over in surprise that I'd touched her.

I helped her with more gymnastics, giving her tips as she flipped and jumped.

"Phew. Glad that's over. Alright, Useless," she smiled evilly at me, "your turn."

Again, she didn't know that I had A-grade flexibility and skills in gymnastics and dancing.

"My turn indeed," I said like a dork.

We started with a cartwheel. Very easy. Astrid looked shocked that I'd been able to accomplish such a feat.

"I had to get into this school somehow," I smirked, "Did you think it was good looks?"

She snorted. "Do a back handspring."

Extremely simple. She wasn't impressed, though, or she didn't show it.

"Do the hardest thing you can think of." It was a challenge, I knew. One I shouldn't accept. But I couldn't resist.

"Alright," I said, thinking. Hardest thing... Maybe a combination of moderate things?

I did several back handsprings, then continued with flipping through the air like a sideways ballerina. Astrid was slack-jawed, but I didn't stop there. I flipped and tumbled back over to her, landing in a bow with my foot stretched behind me and my hand asking for something to hold.

"Satisfied?" I asked.

The whole class was staring at me, amazed that I had done something cool.

"What just happened?" Snotlout asked.

"I think Hiccup was replaced by a robot," Tuffnut said.

"Uhhmm..." I said, not sure how to respond. I _knew_ that was a bad idea!

"Alright, I think you're all ready to go to the gym to practice on bars. Let's go," Gobber announced, distracting them.

Everyone but Astrid and I shot after him, still murmuring about what they'd seen. As Astrid and I followed, she turned to me and said, "What was that?!"

"Umm... Gymnastics?" I squeaked.

"How did you do that? You're... You're Useless!"

"I don't know." I brushed past her angry form hoping to speak to Gobber,

When I reached him, I angrily hissed under my breath, "Why did you do that?! I could have been discovered!"

"You almost did that yourself, Toothpick. Go easy on the acrobatics if ya want to keep it secret," he said.

He had a good point. "Fine."

We reached the gym in no time. I kept my distance from Astrid, watching the others. Snotlout was first, and he was terrible at keeping his balance on both the bar and the wire. Fishlegs was next. He did alright, considering how terribly Snotlout had done. The twins went, and as I watched, I noticed someone In the bleachers.

I looked closer and discovered that it was a talent scout.

I was suddenly at a crossroads. I could keep my secret hidden and do terribly. Or I could live my dream and get accepted into an important company or studio of college.

I made my decision after Astrid performed well and it was my turn.

Stepping under the tight-wire, I lifted my arms up, carefully swung myself over the rope a couple of times before lowering myself with my arms onto the rope. I had to decided to compromise and then make up a lie.

My class gaped at me as I did a slow cartwheel across the rope-wire. This was, of course, one of the most impressive things they'd seen Hiccup do. They'd seen Inermis do much more impressive stunts though.

At the bar, I ran, vaulted from the block, and grabbed onto the bar. I snapped back with the force, but that had been the plan. It made me swing over the bar backwards!

When they stared, I said simply, "I copied Inermis."

Ten minutes later, first period was finally over. I escaped into Music 101.

Today was music design. We all plugged into our sound-proof studios and lost ourselves in the beat.

As I played with the mix of "Teardrop Windows" by Benjamin Gibbard and "Too Close" by Alex Clare I was working on, I sang the lyrics to the latter.

"You know I'm not one... To break promises!" I sang out. My headphones on, I was completely lost in the music. My voice was steady and even, never breaking and sounding mesmerizing.

"You've given me more than I can return!" I sang. Just then, I noticed a reflection on my laptop screen. I swiveled around in my chair, shocked at who I saw.

Astrid, staring slack-jawed at me.

"You're going to catch flys that way," I said, trying to distract her from the fact that I had singing talent.

"I..." she stuttered, "I didn't know you could sing."

At this I smiled grimly. "Ah. There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Astrid."

She looked like she was going to reply with something personal, but instead she shook her head and said, "I was looking for the teacher. Where is she? I have papers for her."

"Not in here. Try Pipsqueak's place. She's been having trouble with her mic lately so the teacher might be there."

"O- okay," she muttered, still shocked. She left the room, but before she closed the door, I shouted, "You're welcome!"

And just like that, Astrid was beginning to know my secrets.


	4. Chapter 4: Inconvenient

**HEY GUYS, IT'S ME, AGAIN,NIGHTLIGHT. THIS IS A FUNNY STORY. I BET YOU TWENTY BUCKS YOU'RE GOING TO LAUGH.**

**SO I WAS DOING A LITTLE LATE REVISING FOR THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF "INERMIS", AND I FOUND OUT SOMETHING. YOU KNOW THAT SCENE WHERE THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT ACROBATICS? I TOTALLY MEANT FOR RUFFNUT TO SAY, "HOT ACROBATICS," NOT TUFFNUT! I'VE DECIDED TO KEEP IT THOUGH BECAUSE I KNOW I GOT A HOOT OUT OF IT, SO YOU GUYS MIGHT TOO.**

**YOU OWE ME TWENTY DOLLARS. PAY ME NOW.**

I biked my way home that day when a thought occurred to me. You know, hey, I'm Inermis, that's Latin for toothless, I HAVE A DRAGON NAMED TOOTHLESS!

Right then, I cut down the street on my bike, taking a short cut to the woods. I dropped my bike behind a tree that nobody would see without looking for it. I ran, remembering the exact route to Raven's Point Cove.

I found the quick-route into the cove, and called out, "Toothless!"

He came running towards me from some unknown rarity in the world, smiling like a fool and acting like a cat crossed with a dog.

"Hey, buddy," I said, scratching him under the chin, "What 'cha been up to?"

He gurgled as a response, the typical response really. I decided today's gurgle meant, "Fantastic, sitting in a hole is wondrous, is it not?"

"I know, I know. You wanna go for a ride?" I asked as if talking to another human being.

He snorted as a yes. I quickly checked the harness, making sure all the wires and latches were correct. I never forget to cross my i's and dot my t's.

I stepped up into the saddle, making sure I was secure with my riding gear over my hoodie.

"Ready?" I asked.

With little warning, Toothless shot up into the sky. "Woohoo!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

I could see the whole town from up here. The sky was cloudy and gray, so I didn't concern myself with looking to see if they saw me. The people hardly looked to the skies. They were always busy being jerks and working.

Now was no time to be bitter though. Being with Toothless brightened my mood tenfold. Flying with him was just as good as dancing. He was my best friend.

We soared out over the ocean and passed several rock structures. We even passed a cave. As I saw it, an idea popped into my mind. If Toothless and I stayed there over night, what would my father, my class, the town think? Would they care that I was missing.

Certainly not Hiccup. But maybe Inermis.

Ugh, why do always compare myself to him?! He's just another form of me, a form that would be me if I had the guts to accept it. But I guess I didn't.

Toothless grumbled at me, and I looked up to see what the matter was. It turns out it wasn't Toothless; it was thunder. We were flying over a thunder cloud!

"Oh no..." I said.

Toothless flicked me in agreement. "I know bud, we need to get back... But how? We might get electrocuted if we go through the clouds." Just then, I saw an escape route.

"There!" I pointed. I adjusted my foot in the hold to allow Toothless to dive down through the opening in the clouds.

We shot through, narrowly avoiding lightning. After a few breathtaking moments of adrenaline, Toothless and I finally landed safely back in Raven's Point Cove.

"Whew," I said, rubbing Toothless's nose after jumping off his back. "That was close."

"You know Toothless," I began thoughtfully, "You are most definitely my best friend."

Toothless murmured happily and leaned into my hand like a dog/cat.

I scratched his scales a bit, and then said, "Bye, bud. See you soon. No, sorry, hasta luego!"

I ran out of the Cove. The one with Toothless. Not the club.

* * *

The next day, after music, I went to my language arts class.

"Good morning, class. Today we're starting a project," my teacher Mrs. Rite said.

The class groaned. "I know, I know. But it's a fun project!" Mrs. Rite said.

"Of course it is," I heard Astrid mumble under her breath.

"As some of you know, we're starting a drama unit. That is, if you don't take drama. But, of course, everyone in here doesn't have drama. Anyways, what we're doing is simple: you're acting out a scene from a randomly selected book."

What is it with randomness right now? Random song, random book... Sheesh!

"I know you want to choose your partners, and I would have let you if Theo and Sora hadn't been soon disruptive and abusive of their time last time. So, unfortunately, I had to pick. I tried to pick based on how well you work together. The pairs are-"

I tuned her out until I heard my name: "Hiccup and Astrid."

Okay, maybe the teachers had some sort of league against me. Where they had secret meetings, planning to make my life as miserable as they could.

Astrid's hand shot up. "Can I work with someone else?"

"Astrid," Mrs. Rite said, "that is extremely offensive to your classmate. Just for that, no."

She groaned and put her head on the desk. You could almost see the thought bubble: "They hate me, I know it."

"Class, line up. We're going to the library to get the books."

And we lined up, with Astrid as far in the front as she could get to stay away from me.

The way Mrs. Rite picked our random books was she had us hold a ruler, spun us around seven times, and whatever book the ruler pointed at was the book chosen. Of course, Astrid went for us.

She didn't look happy at all while she was spinning, unlike her classmates. She brought our book over towards us. _Half Upon a Time_, by James Riley.

"Alright, Useless. It seems we're stuck together. Let's get this crap over with."

* * *

I read the book in a day. It was wonderful. How all the broken pieces of fairy tale fit together in no way whatsoever. My favorite character was May. She was so sarcastic, and tough that she reminded me of Astrid and myself.

Astrid finished it in two days. I could tell that she enjoyed it, but she never admitted it.

We met at my house two days after the project had been assigned.

"I personally think we should use this part," she argued.

I put our pizza in the microwave. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get her to come over and help with the project.

The part in question was the part where May- which would be Astrid's character- saves Jack's (my) butt from the witch who wants to eat him. Before he gets eaten by a giant.

"As much as I'd like to play the damsel in distress," I said sarcastically, "it would be too hard to pretend that we're at an exaggerated height. I'm sure the great Astrid could do it, but what about Hiccup the Useless?"

She seemed upset that I'd actually replied and shot down her idea, but she said, "Alright. What do you suggest?"

I had been thinking about this for awhile. One particular scene stuck in my mind, but I was afraid to suggest it.

I went for it. "What about that one scene where Jack and May are playing with the Eye's sword andtheyalmostkiss?" I rushed the last part, fighting to keep the blush off my face.

She raised her eyebrows, and to my surprise, said, "That actually would be one of the easiest scenes to do. Maybe."

I put my success in the back of my mind and said, "Pizza's ready," when I heard the ding.

"So," she said when I sat down her pizza. She took a bite and continued, "Want to explain your singing?"

"My parents gave me vocal chords, taught me words, and I learned to sing. Same as anyone," I replied, stating the obvious.

She rolled her eyes. "I meant why you sing _well_, idiot."

"Just for that, I'm not telling you."

"Then explain why you suddenly have gymnastics skills."

I smiled. "I told you, I had to get into this school somehow."

I took a bite and glanced at the clock. I nearly choked when I saw what time it was. I would be late for my gig as Inermis!

"I'm sorry, Astrid, but I'm late for, uh... My job! I'll be back in like an hour, so you can stay, or you can go, I don't care. Just don't go into my room," I said, grabbing my school bag and slipping on a hoodie.

"I wasn't going to until- hey! What's this?!" she said. She was pulling something sticking out from the corner of my bag. It was the scarf she thought she had given to Inermis.

"A... Uh, gift from a friend," I murmured trying for the door. She stopped me, examining the cloth with sadness.

"I made this for Inermis..."

I didn't like seeing her sad, so I said, "We're good friends, and he knew that I know you, and he knew that I would love it, so he gave it to me as a gift and said to be very careful with it because it was his favorite gift from a fan."

She smiled. "He said that?" Then her draw dropped as she realized what that meant. "You know him?!"

"Yep, gotta go!" And I bolted out the door.


	5. Chapter 5: Infamous

I wore the scarf the next day, too tired to notice what I put on. I wore random seemingly-skinny jeans, a typical T-shirt, a hip hoodie, a jagged jacket, and my garish glasses (that I hardly ever wore because they weren't entirely necessary) . Not to mention my sense of alliteration.

Classes sped by, finally stopping on a dime after language arts. Lunch.

"That's my seat, Fishbone," Snotlout said, standing over me.

"Is that a new nickname? How long did it take for you to come up with that?" I shot back, not leaving my seat.

"Oh, look! The Fishbone's fighting back!" Snotlout said. As he did, he pushed me flat on the floor.

I knocked my head on the ground hard, really hard. The world spun, and I just wanted to lie there. And so I did lie with my eyes closed.

"Hey guys, what's going o- Hiccup?!" said a feminine voice. My brain recognized it as Astrid.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Everything felt better by now. Maybe I could have a little fun with this.

"I hit my head, and I can't feel my feet. Where are my glasses?" I said weakly.

"Here," my glasses were pressed into my hand. I slid them on and blinked my eyes open. Kneeling above me was Astrid, and her eyes widened when they met mine. Why was she helping me? How come the others weren't kicking my outsides in?

Astrid took a deep breath and said, "I like your scarf."

The scarf. The one she'd given to Inermis, who, in turn, supposedly gave it to me.

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "Yeah. Thanks. It was a gift."

"The stitching is amazing. I bet someone worked really hard on that," Astrid told me with a piercing gaze. I could tell that she was trying to say, "Dude, I worked hard on that. Be careful."

"Uhm," I stuttered, leaning on my elbow and peering through my glasses, "yep. I'll make sure to take good care of it."

We were staring into each other, me starting to stand up and say something, when Tuffnut just had to speak up.

"Wait," he said with his grumbly voice, "wasn't that the scarf Astrid gave Inermis?"

Snotlout's eyes widened. Astrid's eyes widened. My eyes widened. The eyes on a puppy two miles away widened. If I played my cards wrong in the next thirty seconds, my secret would be exposed.

"No," I said. I completely stood up, grabbed my lunch and bag, and ran out of the room. Astrid's eyes were on my back again, I could feel them. I sat down on a overturned trash can in the Janitor's Closet, taking care to lock the door and not knock anything over. Thank God it was a Friday, when the janitors weren't here.

As I began to take a bite of my fish sandwich, a voice, Astrid's, called out, "Hiccup?"

I made no motion. Stopped breathing. Stopped blinking. There was no way she would figure out I was in here.

The door handle jiggled. "Hiccup, I know you're in here. Open the door please?"

I made no motion to open the door. Eventually, Astrid got tired of it, and she said, "Alright." I think she left.

Sighing, I looked at my scarf. This thing had gotten me into so much trouble. What was I going to do?

* * *

That night, Astrid and I met at my house again.

"I went into your room," she said, munching on the noodles in her soup.

"You what?! And after I told you not to?" I said.

"_Specifically_ after you said not to," she grinned, "and you'll never guess what I found."

I cowered, waiting for her to mention...

"Your sketchbook." I sighed in relief. Not what I thought.

"So now you have some type of gymnastic ability," she numbered on her fingers, "singing skills, and drawing?! I don't think you're Hiccup."

"You're right. I'm not," I joked with an almost straight face.

"Then who are you? Inermis?" she played along.

If she thought I was joking, then what was the harm? "Yep. Sure am. I abandoned you to go dance."

She laughed and laughed and laughed at that. "OH MY GOSH," she choked out, "that is hilarious!"

"And such is the life of a hiccup," I murmured before shoving hot soup in my mouth.

Ouch.

"Aah!" I yelled and spat out the soup.

Astrid laughed harder. "Did you just burn your tongue?! You are such a weirdo!"

While my tongue hurt, my heart hurt more. She just called me a freak, the girl I like, and I thought we were getting along. She must have noticed my change in attitude, for she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be offensive. I meant it as... a term of endearment."

Term of endearment? Does that mean we're friends? "What drawing did you like the best?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Hmm..." she thought, "I really like the one of Rapunzel's tower." She looks at me. "That is what it is, right?"

"Let me go get my sketchbook so you can point it out," I said. I ran up and got it, and when I came back, Astrid was washing her bowl. I set my sketchbook down on the table and said, "You didn't have to do that..."

She turned and looked at me. "I wanted to."

Nodding, I flipped open my book to a blank page. The awesomeness of this moment, I needed to remember it, so I took my charcoal pencil and drew (a very rough) sketch of Astrid doing the dishes.

"I like that one," she smirked. Because she saw it.

"Just wanted to remember one of the first times Astrid Hofferson was nice to me," I shrugged.

She gave me a look and flipped to another charcoal drawing, this one of a beautiful young woman with long (LONG), flowing hair that tumbled off the page sticking the majority of her body out of a tower window to watch a handsome young man (that somewhat resembled me (not too much where it was noticeable)) climbing determinedly up the rope of her hair.

"You know," Astrid said after staring at the picture, "in one of the next scenes he falls and gets his eyes scratched out. Or something like that."

"And eventually he finds her, and she cries and fixes his eyes, and he finds out they have twins together. The end," I said, finishing the somewhat half-baked version of the tale.  
**(A/N I FIND IT IRONIC THAT I PUT A COMMA AFTER "THE END.")**

"Wait, when did that happen?!" she joked, talking about the children.

"Soo... I think this project'll only work if we know each other better," I said.

She nodded her head in agreement. "Hi," she stuck out her hand, "I'm Astrid. I love to dance, read, and I have a HUGE crush on Inermis."

I shook her hand. "I'm Hiccup. I don't like to talk about myself, I got into Falsus Apello Performing Arts School under mysterious circumstances, and I do NOT have a crush on Inermis."

She giggled at the last part, but eyed me suspiciously for the rest.

"What is it about Inermis," I said, sitting down next to my sketchbook, "that makes girls swoon?"

Astrid looked at the ceiling dreamily. "So many things... His dancing is amazing, for one. He's not into all that fame crap, so he seems like a nice guy. I think I saw his eyes. They're gorgeous... And the mystery. Wondering who he is. Trying to figure out who he is just gets him tangled in your thoughts, and you can't stop thinking about it."

She saw my eyes? Could that be an issue? I don't know what force mad me do what I did next, but I stared straight into her eyes. Her gaze slowly wandered until it had met mine. It was like a contest, one that I refused to lose. When a flash of recognition bolted into her pale blue eyes, she looked me up and down, recognition turning to confusion.

"I win," I smiled, acting as if it were a staring contest.

She glowered. "We weren't competing!"

"We sort of were," I laughed.

"So... I explained something about me. What about you, Mister?" she jabbed me.

"I work at The Cove," I half-truthed, "and I'm close and personal friends with Inermis. We both agree that girls would seriously not like him if they actually saw him."

Her eyes brightened at the fact that I knew Inermis. "Oh yeah! How could I forget?" Her face drooped. "Why wouldn't they like him?"

Ummm... "He's not very... um, cute."

She seemed relieved. "Well, that's a dude's opinion. A girl is the better judge."

"Oh, then he's missing a leg!" I said the first thing that came to mind.

Her eyes softened and widened at the same time. "He's an amazing dancer with a prosthetic!"

Ugh, this girl could NOT take a hint...!

**I REALLY TRY WITH THE CHAPTER NAMES, BUT THEY'RE SEEMINGLY RANDOM. HERE'S A LIST OF EXPLANATIONS:**

**1.) INTRODUCTION - INTRODUCING HICCUP, DUH.**

**2.) ILLUSION - IT'S A MYSTERY. (THE SONG. DUH. AGAIN.)**

**3.) IGNORANCE - HICCUP'S BEING A DUMMKOPH SHOWING OFF TO ASTRID.**

**4.) INCONVENIENT - STUFF JUST KEEPS HAPPENING TO HICCUP AND ASTRID AND TOOTHLESS, AND IT'S JUST SUPER INCONVENIET.**

**5.) INFAMOUS - THE LEGIT DEFINITION OF 'INFAMOUS' IS 'HAVING AN EVIL REPUTATION.' HIS SCARF IS INFAMOUS, AS IT GETS HIM INTO TROUBLE. HIS EYES, AS WELL AS INERMIS AND HIS SKETCHPAD, WOULD BE CONSIDERED BY HICCUP TO BE INFAMOUS.**


	6. Chapter 6: Insecurities

**SPECIAL THANKS TO ONE OF MY GUESTS. THIS ONE'S FOR YOU. ;) AND YOU, TOO, StorSpeaker. TO ALL MY REVIEWERS, ACTUALLY, BUT ESPECIALLY THESE TWO FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND/OR HELP WITH IDEAS. THAT GUEST... GOOD IDEA.**

** AND TO THOSE WHO READ THIS, YOU ROCK, TOO! ONTO THE STORY!**

"Would you mind explaining why Inermis thinks he isn't cute?" Astrid said.

We were sitting together- together- at lunch. I had sat in the corner, like usual, with my copy of _Once Upon the End_- I'd breezed through the second of the _Half Upon a Time _trilogy- and began eating my lunch. Suddenly, when I reached a really important part **(A/N SPOILER ALERT - JACK DIES)**, I felt a warm presence beside me. Thinking it was Snotlout, I said, "What do you want?"

Turns out, it was Astrid. She had no explanation. This confused me.

"What about it?" I said through a mouthful of sandwich.

"It's just," she stammered, "he's so amazing. He should be the most confident and arrogant person ever. But instead he... He doesn't have any confidence in people accepting who he is!"

I sighed and put down my food. "I'm about to tell you a story. A rather sad one, one that has made m- Inermis cry several times. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

She nodded.

"Alright," I released a breath. "When Inermis was a kid, he had friends. But when he got accepted into a very prestigious school, his friends abandoned him. They thought, 'What has he done? He doesn't deserve this!'

"These 'friends' were also accepted to the school. But now they were his bullies. He was - and still is - bullied every single day.

"At the same time, his mom helped him come up with the secret identity. But then she died. It was really tough for Inermis. With his mom gone, his father basically abandoned him. He learned to walk everywhere- one of the reasons he's so fit- and take care of everything.

"One of the worst things for him, though, was that he was- still is- completely in love with this one girl. She was beautiful, smart, athletic, funny, didn't bully him, kind as far as he knows, all that. But she never ever noticed him. Often times she avoided him. Broke Inermis's heart.

"Eventually, he met me. I am one of his only friends. He is my best friend, and I am his. We know everything about each other.

"But what makes him think he's unattractive is that girl. He thinks he's not good enough for her. And all of that other stuff, it just reinforces it," I finish the summary of my life, adding a few lies.

The whole time, Astrid had been quiet acting and responding appropriately to each of the situations; however, when I got to the part about him (me) being in love with some girl (her), she looked extremely sad.

"That's awful."

"Yep. Inermis and I are very alike. Except for the fame part. But nobody knows either of our true identities..." I said, looking at the sandwich raised to my mouth rather than her.

"Did that stuff happen to you too?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Maybe," I said vaguely. Holding up a piece of sandwich, I said, "You want a piece?"

"Answer the question," she said as she crossed her arms.

I sighed. "I don't want to. Now are you gonna eat the sandwich?"

She rolled her eyes and took the sandwich bit from between my fingers. Chomping, she said, "When you're done, you wanna go to the library?"

I'm sure my face looked like she'd just asked me to to rob a bank. "Sure..."

* * *

At the library, we sat down in one of the most reclusive aisles- the biographical section, of course.

"So... What are we doing here?" I asked.

She smiled. "We're going to play a game." She pulled out a book labeled Hip-Hop Dancing. "I stashed this book over here so no one would find it. Not even the librarian's noticed!"

"Very surreptitious. Now what are we s'possed to do with it?" I eyed her suspiciously.

Her grin became that of the Cheshire Cat again. "We're going to dance."

She led me to the middle of the end of the aisle. "Now according to this book," she began instructor-style, "you need to put your fists one next to the other up by your chest."

I stood still.

"Come on," she said exasperatedly, "just do it. It's fun."

"How do I know you're not recording me to show to your jerk friends?" I asked.

Pursing her lips, she said, "Don't you think I already would have taped you or something?"

"I don't know."

"No. Now do it!" Sighing, I put my fists one next to the other, like the hipster in the picture, and then pulled them up to my chest.

"Now make your arms go down in a C-curve." I did as she said.

"Do that in a figure-eight while shaking your hips."

"This is so demeaning!" I said.

"Yes, why do you think I'm doing this?" she laughed.

Rolling my eyes, I wiggled my hips in what I hope was a non-dorky way, moving my arms in a figure-eight.

Astrid was laughing now. "Nice!" Should I be laughing? Or should I be upset? I decided that, through enough worrying, I would laugh.

Laughing wildly, I exaggerated my movements. I am one hundred percent positive that I looked a gazillion percent ridiculous.

She laughed harder, falling on the ground with tears.

"Am I done now?" I begged.

"Oh, oh," she panted, "that was hilarious."

"I'll take that as a yes." I stopped dancing, rolled my eyes, and plopped down next to her. "Your turn," I grinned evilly, taking the book from her weakened-by-laughing form.

She stopped laughing immediately. "No."

"Oh come on," I whined, "I had to do it!"

"I'll do something else, anything!" she pleaded.

"Hmm..." I pondered, trying to think of the most embarrassing thing. "I know! Teach me to waltz!"

She seemed stricken. I completely understand why, I mean, it was more a request out of curiosity. Would she mind dancing with me?

"Anything to get out of that atrocity," she said... Nervously? Was she _nervous_ to dance with me?

She (almost tentatively!) took my hand and placed her other on my shoulder. Following what I remember of the _Cinderella_ cartoon Disney dance, I put my arm around her waist and made her swing around with me. It was almost like a square dance, but slower and more intimate. This was the best Monday ever, it felt like.

As I smiled at her, I could almost swear that I saw her blush.

I didn't know when to stop so I just casually slowed down. She got the gist and let go of my shoulder. It immediately felt cooler. But my hand was still warm. I looked down to see she still had it grasped in her palm.

I didn't want her to let go (who would?), so instead I blurted out, "Waltzing was considered scandalous in the early 1800s."

"Really?!" she laughed, "Why?"

"Because of the partners' closeness," I whispered in her ear, coming closer to her.

And then, like a phantom, I was gone.


	7. Chapter 7: Itinerant

**OKAY, COUPLE THINGS: A.) THINK I MET MY PERSONALITY DOPPLEGANGER (DID I SPELL THAT RIGHT?). MAYBE. I DON'T REALLY KNOW. B.) I GOT A REVIEW. IN. SWEDISH! WHOEVER YOU ARE, YOU MADE MY DAY ROCK!**

**THIS IS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PUNCHED THE WALL FOR HOW I DIDN'T MAKE THEM KISS IN THE LAST CHAPTER.**

I should have kissed her. Ugh, I can be such a _Dummkopf_! She was nervous, she danced with me, she held my hand...

Did she... Like me?

No, no. No. That can't be right. She's always rejected me. Never aggressively, but subtly. She wouldn't like me. She's rejected me for far too long.

I couldn't focus with that mantra (she doesn't like you, she doesn't like you) as an undercurrent flow of thought in my brain. So I completely shut off that part of my brain, like a switch, or at least putting a dam on the Stream of Consciousness. I instead flooded my brain with my book.

* * *

Six days later, with nothing eventful really happening, it was Friday, and Astrid sat with me for lunch again.

"Make me laugh," she said, her eyes drooping with boredom as she leaned- almost laid- on the table.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Tell me something random. I don't care. Just talk."

Wanting to hear my voice, hmm? The mantra was back.

"Josephine Baker, a popular dancer in the twentieth century, was actually a spy. One of her most common tricks was writing notes with invisible ink on her music sheets," I said after thinking a moment.

She put her lower lip out in thought. "Interesting... Now tell me another?"

"Hmm..." I said, "Oh! I know! This might come as a shock- I'm still not sure if it's true."

She looked actually intrigued. "What is it?"

"I think-," I took a bite of my sandwich.

"Aw, come on! That was mean!" she whined.

Swallowing, I said, "Cheese is poison to mice."

"What?" she said, confused.

"Cheese overheats their blood. Don't know how, don't know why. Just does."

"But that doesn't make sense! How come in cartoons the mice always want the cheese and their reward in the end is eating the cheese!" she sputtered.

I raised an eyebrow. "It's a cartoon."

"Yeah, I know, but," she fought, "there must be some truth."

"I don't know. I just read it somewhere."

Giving up the argument with someone who was better at words, she said, "Hey, Hiccup?"

"Yes, Astrid?"

"D'you wanna come watch Inermis with me tomorrow?"

I nearly choked on my food. Did I hear her right?

"Inermis? My best friend Inermis, or some other Inermis?"

She rolled her eyes. "You are such a _Dummkopf_. Yes, you're best friend Inermis. The one that dances."

"Uhm.." I didn't know what to do! The girl of my dreams was basically asking me out, but to go see a show that I secretly performed!

"I think I have to work that night," I, again, half-truthed.

Was it just me, or did she look... disappointed? "Oh... Maybe you and I could go some other time?"

"I think I always have to work at the same time Inermis dances. I guess you could say I'm one of the stagehands."

"Oh. Wait, you're not just saying that to try and ditch me, are you?" she accused me.

"What?! No! I'd love to hang out with you. Maybe if come to my house tonight, we can go do something before I go to my job. 'Kay?"

Her eyes lit up. "Sure. I'll be there right after school."

"You can just ride home with me. Or walk. We'll figure it out."

After several nerve-racking hours of "Will she bail?", I finally went outside with my green satchel-bag hung on my shoulders, looking for a red bike and a blonde head.

"Your bike?" Astrid said, coming up beside me and slugging me in the shoulder.

"Ow!" I said rubbing the spot, "What was that for?!"

"It's how I express affection," she shrugged, "Now how are we gonna do this?"

My one-person bike was decidedly meant for one person, but, of course, it was also meant for the semi-romantic handlebar trick.

"Sit here," I said, patting the handlebars.

"No way!" she said defensively, holding up her hands and backing away.

"Alright, you can walk then..." I said, jumping onto my seat and slowly pedaling away.

"Wait!" she cried, "I'm coming." And with that, I stopped so she could carefully place herself on my handlebars.

The autumn air nipped at my ears as I began pedaling faster and faster. Leaves, muddy brown, blush red, pumpkin yellow, all came tumbling down to greet us. A few stuck in Astrid's hair, which was streaming out behind her, as it had come loose from its normal braid. Despite the coolness of the wind, I felt pleasantly warm. The sun was shining right on us as I took my way through the streets toward my wooden abode. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Astrid tilt her face up slightly, to catch the rays of warmth.

Thinking of something wonderful, I sped right past my house.

Astrid noticed. "Hey, wasn't that your house?" she asked, turning her head to look at me.

"Yes."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." She smiled at me, then turned back around. We passed gorgeous trees, dripping with autumn leaves just begging to take the plunge. Astrid stuck her hand out to catch one. She smushed it on my head.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, stopping the bike.

She giggled as she hopped off. "I've been meaning to try that." To help my efforts in getting the leaf-bits out of my shaggy hair, she brushed some out in the back, moving around to help. Her smile faded as she stroked my head, turning into more a gaze of awe.

"I think it's all out," I whispered. She was a lot closer to me than I thought. Close enough to kiss.

"I think so too," she whispered back, gazing straight into my eyes.

"So," I pulled back, "ready to go?"

She blushed and pulled on her hair. "Yeah."

And we were same amazing beauty met us along the way, until finally we heard the babbling of a slow river.

"My lady," I bowed, holding my hand out to help her down although she didn't need it. She took, hopped down, and said, "Thank you, good sir."

"Welcome to the Venustas River," I said with a grand gesture to the water.

She gasped. The water was a murky brown-green-blue, the kind where you could see the stones sitting at the bottom. Trees of all colors surrounded the banks. What must have been hundreds of autumn leaves floated diaphanously along the water, like gondolas for singing cartoon insects.

"This is beautiful, Hiccup."

"I know." After a silence full of wonderment, I said, "Know what the best part is?"

"What?"

"That we've got it completely to ourselves."

She smiled and faced me. "Let's go do something then!"

I grabbed her hand, knowing exactly what to do. I led her, both of us laughing, down the bank, heading toward something I knew would be there.

"Is that... A covered bridge?" she asked.

"Yep. Come on." I tugged her faster. We skidded to a stop right in front of the rickety old thing.

"You have to be very quiet in here, okay?" I whispered, taking a slow step inside.

"Why?" she asked softly, following my lead.

"This," I whispered, pointing quietly at something in the corner.

It was a little skulk of foxes. There were three little foxes snuggled into a bigger fox, the mama.

"Stay right here," I said. I continued creeping forward. "Hey guys, it's me. I'm back."

The mama slowly looked up, and when she saw me, she woofed a little hello. The little babies sleepily yawned, and, when they saw they immediately got up and came over.

I got down on my knees, feeling Astrid's familiar gaze on my back. The little ones- whom I'd named Logan, Wren, and Tiny- climbed on my lap and began licking my cheeks. Laughing, I said, "It's good to see you too."

Noticing Astrid, the mama crept toward her. "Don't pick her up. Sit down like me, and let her sniff you."

The rough little tongues continued licking me as Astrid got down and the mama sniffed her hand. After a few terrifying moments, she licked Astrid's hand. She giggled and let the mama climb onto her lap. The fox snuggled into Astrid, tired.

"She likes me!" Astrid whisper-shouted.

One of the babies- Wren- got curious, seeing her mama with Astrid, so she went over. The same thing happened. Soon, Astrid was covered with my little fox friends.

We were both laughing and laughing and laughing. I pointed to each of the little foxes and said, "This is Wren, this is Tiny, and this is Logan. The mama is called Nan."

"I like that," she said.

Eventually, the foxes got tired after playing with us (it was adorable). Each licked our faces as a goodbye, they climbed back into their snugly corner to sleep.

"Bye, guys. See you later," I said.

We exited the covered bridge, careful to step lightly. Once we were a good distance away, Astrid near shouted, "That was amazing!"

I laughed. "Yeah. I found them a couple weeks ago."

"You must have a really strong connection with animals," she said.

I scoffed, thinking of Toothless. "No joke."

"Can we go swimming?" she asked randomly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you have your swim suit?"

She tapped her leg. "Always."

"Of course," I groaned. "Let's go."

"Yeah!" she exclaimed excitedly. She went behind a tree to... Not really change, but... I guess take off her clothes? Me, without a swim suit, just blushed at my previous sentence and took off my shirt.

"Ready!" she shouted. Her hair was now back in a tight braid, and she was wearing a maroon one-piece.

"Is that a team suit?" I asked. When she came out, her face almost immediately went red when she saw me. She was staring at my... Abs? When did I get those?

"Uh-du-uh- yeah!" she stammered.

"Oh! I just remembered," I said, "there's a rope swing somewhere. Wanna try it?"

Her grin was devilish. "Yes." She grabbed my hand and began running, leaping over logs and ducking under branches. Thankfully, this was the right way, or else I would've had to stop her little joy run.

"There it is," I pointed to a thick, colorful rope with many knot.

"You're first!" she jabbed at my stomach.

"Violence!" I said, faking offense. Braving the cold water and my fear of the rope, I climbed the wooden latter, acting undaunted. I grabbed onto the rope and securely put my feet onto a knot, praying that my pants would not fall off and that I wouldn't break my head in two. With a final thanks for my life, I swung.

The wind felt amazing. After a long few weeks at school, it was nice to be back here in Venustas River. I'd found it awhile ago with Toothless. There were no signs or anything, so I named it Venustas, the Latin word for beauty. The only sign that there had ever been life here was that one rope swing and covered bridge.

I let go of the rope when I judged myself far enough. Plunging into the cold water, I immediately felt shriveled. But I whooped for joy on the way down, so at least I appeared ready for the cold.

"That was great!" Astrid laughed, coming closer to the bank's edge. Just as I was about to raise myself out of the water, an idea popped into my mind.

"Will you help me out?" I asked, reaching out my hand. She rolled her eyes, but grasped my palm and began to pull me out. But my plan had already been set in motion. I yanked back and pushed off with my legs, shooting myself forward. Astrid, still holding to my hand, was yanked into the water!

When she came out, she was gasping, and her mouth was shaped like a long-ways oval. "I CANNOT believe you just did that!" she shouted. I laughed as she splashed the river water at me. "Ohohohoh!" I said, my, "Oh," turning into a laugh. "So this is how it's going to be!" I splashed water right back at her. Soon, it was an all-out water war.

"Truce, truce!" I called after she had successfully dunked me eight times.

"Aww! That was fun, though!" she whined.

"We can go do other fun stuff, 'kay?" I got out of the water and held out my hand to pull her up. I prepared for her trying to pull me in.

"Like what?" she asked, swimming over.

"We could go for a hike," I suggested. She grabbed my hand, but as soon as she touched me, I felt weak. She shot back and I went tumbling in. When I popped my head out of the ice-cube-like water and moved my hair out of my eyes, she was standing solidly on the bank, smiling triumphantly at me. "Sounds nice."

I clambered out, and we took off toward my bike, where our bags and clothes were. Because I had gone in in my pants, I just slid my shirt on top of my chest. Astrid was off behind a tree, I think.

When she came out from the woods, she was wearing a whole new outfit.

"Where do y'wanna hike?" I asked. We began walking.

"Somewhere pretty."

"How long?"

"To the top of something."

"I know! Just follow me."

She, looking extremely worn out, looped her arm through mine and leaned her head against my shoulder. "I'm tired."

"I know. But the view is really rewarding. Come on," I tugged her into the path that I made. It wound around the Warble Hill, named after my favorite of bird and dragon calls. It was not a very tall hill, maybe a mile to walk on the spiraling path. It was my favorite, though. The view from the top was stunning.

We walked in silence. For a whole hour, all we did was watch leaves fall from trees and think quietly to ourselves, trying to keep warm in each other. At one point, a dark purple leaf fell into Astrid's hair, so I gently picked it out.

The sun was saying its last goodbyes before it tumbled into tomorrow as we reached the top of the hill. There was a clearing here, so no trees blocked our view of the sunset. It was absolutely stunning. Reds and yellows mixed with blues and blacks, orange and violet splashes thrown in. The colors mixed like ink against the clear sky.

"This is pretty," she murmured.

"Wait 'til you see the stars," I whispered.

The sun blinked away, wishing us a wonderful night and the hope of tomorrow. After a few minutes, the stars came out to play. The moon rolled lazily out onto the black canvas, ready to conduct the symphony of night. The stars twinkled in agreement with me that this had been the right choice. With the humming of crickets tuning their instruments, the night orchestra began. Almost like a dance, the moon and stars swirled together with the gray clouds and the Milky Way.

"I'm glad you took me here, Hiccup," Astrid said. We were lying on our backs, staring at the beauty of the sky. The top of our heads were pressed together, and our arms were spread out to reach each other.

"Me too," I said.

I felt her flip onto her stomach. Wondering what was happening, I flipped over too, and found her staring at me. My breath caught in my throat. She looked more beautiful than I'd ever seen her. Her semi-wet bangs were draped across her forehead, and her eyes- oh my gosh, her eyes. They reflected the stars to a T.

Unexplainably, she began... leaning forward. This time I'm certain of it. Feeling dauntless, I leaned forward too.

And just when that moment I'd been waiting for for like seven years was gonna happen, a thought that I hated popped into my head.

"Oh, no," I whispered.

"What?" she said, slightly offended that I hadn't kissed her.

"I'm late!"

"Come on then," she said.

We ran as fast as we could, nervously chatting about all sorts of things like Half Upon A Time and Doctor Who.

Faster than I'd like, we reached the Cove.

"You would stay to watch Inermis," I said.

"Alright," she said. I ran in the employees' entrance and quickly changed into my Inermis costume.

When I came out, everything for my performance of "The Other Side" by Bruno Mars was all set up. Forgetting that I was supposed to use sign language, I walked right up to the mic and said, "A special thanks to Astrid, who managed to make sure my best friend and most important aid got here on time." As the crowd reacted to my voice for the second time, I got ready for my dance.


	8. Chapter 8: Intrigue

Saturday, Astrid looked pissed.

She showed up at my house around lunchtime.

"We need to talk. Meet me outside school by the bike rack," she said, and left.

Looking at my sandwich, I asked it silently, "Do you think I should jump off a cliff now, or after I finish you?"

"Now," it whispered back (again, in my head).

"Oh, is it just so you can live? Stupid sandwich."

Once I finished eating my selfish sandwich (I can't believe it would rather me jump off a cliff and it live, than me jump off a cliff with it in my belly!), I rode my bike over to Falsus Apello.

There she was, by the bike rack, tapping her foot angrily. Maybe if I played this cool she would drop whatever it was that was bugging her.

"Hey, Astrid. What's wrong?"

She slugged me on the shoulder and pinned me angrily against a tree. "You coward!" she spat.

Where was this coming from? Just yesterday we were having an amazing time in Venustas, and today she calling me coward? "What?"

"When Inermis spoke last night," she said, "he sounded an awful lot like you."

I had never spoken because my voice was too distinctive, yes. But I had spoken last night. Part of me was just tired of signing, the part that wanted to use my vocal chords. Another part wanted to tell someone my secret. Namely Astrid. However, I suppose my brain had not considered the possibility that, for once, someone might actually know what my voice sounds like compared to others. As distinctive as it is, my voice is not often used in front of those people.

I needed to think of something quick. Luckily, I'm pretty good at that.

"Oh! You know when I said I was a stagehand?" I asked. Her glare turned suspicious, and she released me a little bit from my being-pinned-by-a-girl position.

"Yeah...?"

"One of the smaller things I do is record voices for Inermis. You know, because I'm a Techie, and sometimes he says stuff. That's the first time I've ever been useful for that. He told me to say that, so I did."

Her gaze slid into something like sadness. "Oh. Okay. Sorry for bugging you." She began to mope off.

"Hey, wait!" I said, grabbing her arm to stop her from leaving. "Let me at least give you a ride?"

She sighed, a huge contrast to the Astrid from moments before. Earlier she had seemed angry, but, at the same time, somewhat... Happy. In-Euphoria kind of happy. Now she was just sad and disappointed.

"Sure." She sat glumly on the handlebars as I took my seat.

"Where ya wanna go?" I asked.

"Home. Or your house. Or the edge of a cliff. I don't care."

"Ah, come on. What's got you so down in the dumps?" I said, using my I'm-talking-to-a-little-kid-who-just-dropped-her-i ce-cream-on-the-ground voice.

"It's just- it's stupid," she sputtered.

"What? You can tell me. Have I ever done anything bad to you?"

She sighed. "I was hoping that maybe..." She looked embarrassed. "You were Inermis."

My foot jerked, causing us to swerve a little. I stopped as I struggled to breathe and start my heart again. "W- why?" I started pedaling again as my heart kicked into over drive now that it was back from the almost-dead.

"I dunno. I've just been really desperate to find out who he is. It's like, if I find out, then I can deal with all my other crap. It would just be a nice little piece to hang onto. Plus, I think you'd be a good Inermis."

"Well," I laughed slightly,getting over the idea that she was literally ON TOP of discovering my secret, "I can assure you I'm not Inermis." It hurt to lie this time. She looked so sad.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"Maybe later."

I had an idea. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, Inermis told me he had a little crush on you, too. Maybe I can talk to him and see if I'm allowed to tell you who he is."

The smile other face when I said that- I would've volunteered to be thrown in a pit of snake made of lightning and knives to see that smile again. "You would do that? And he does?!"

I shrugged and laughed a little as I turned a corner towards my house- I didn't know where she lived. "One: Yes, of course I'd do that for you. I'd do anything for- for a friend." Multiple thoughts of declaring undying love swirled my brain pan when that sentence passed my lips. She smiled at that sentence surprisingly. "Two: He WILL NOT stop talking about you, really. It's quite annoying to those around him, which is just ME."

She blushed and giggled- a side of her I'd never seen. "Tell him- tell 'im I like him too."

Oh great, I thought, know I'm passing love notes between Astrid and myself.

"Hey," she pointed down a street lined with orange trees, "go down that way."

I turned my bike and went down the street, the crunch of my bike over crisp fall leaves sounding out like a battle march. "Where are we going?"

"My house."

Five minutes later, with the only sounds being made the steady crackle of the leaves, we arrived at a giant pond.

"My house is over that way. I'll show you in a sec," Astrid said. Her arms, wrapped tightly in her maroon-purple sweatshirt, were stuffed into her armpits as her braid hit her face, and I put my bike against a tree, hidden.

We went over to stand by the edge of the pond. "I almost drowned," she said, staring at the deep, swelling water rather than me.

"What?"

"When I was little. I didn't know how to swim at that point. My parents hadn't bothered to teach me. I was playing by the edge of this pond, and I... fell in, I guess. That's why I'm so into swimming. After that, I taught myself and I never stopped."

I didn't like the thought of her drowning. "That's awful. About the drowning, I mean. I'm glad you're okay."

She looked at me and gave me a sad, meaningful smile. "Thanks." She looked off towards a house- more like a barn- out on a hill. "Come on," she said, "I want to show you my room."

We walked arm in arm, and I told myself that was because she was cold and I was warm. She led me up the yellowed grass, over the faded red stairs, and into an emerald green room. A red blush painted her cheeks as she moved some magazines under her bed and said, "This is my room."

Her bed was plain. White sheets tucked around the edges of a dark green comforter. White starchy pillows at the helm. There was a desk littered with books and papers and pencils strutting along one wall. Posters of famous dancers, swimmers, and gymnasts lined another wall. And, sitting in the corner, was something amazing. A bookshelf, filled to the brim with books, sketchpads, and posters, sat in the corner by the window that looked out onto the pond.

And tacked to the side of the bookshelf was a picture of Inermis. Next to that was a miraculous and accurate drawing of my eyes. Green with brown and gold dots.

She noticed me looking at it. "You do have miraculously similar eyes. Are you sure you're not Inermis?"

I laughed as I picked out a copy of MiddleWorld from her shelf. "Pretty sure."

We sat in a strange silence for a moment or two, the gears in my head cranking to find a useful conversation topic for an awkward silence between you and the person you love.

"So what'd you want to show me?" I asked.

"Oh! Right." She strode over to the bookcase and fought with a sketchbook that'd been buried. "Here," she said as she handed me the recently freed book.

I flipped through its pages. It was obvious that she used it a lot. The pages were worn and covered with words and drawings and sketches and doodles. Looking closer, I noticed that they were words and drawings and sketches and doodles _about me_. No, not me, Inermis.

"I want you to show it to him," she said as my eyebrows lost themselves in my hairline and my eyes went as wide as saucers. Not just any saucers. UFO saucers, flying ones. "This is where I keep track of all the information I find out about him."

I continued flipping through her research on hi- me. Detailed drawings of me doing backflips and handstands adorned several of the pages. Most of them towards the end were colored drawings of my eyes again, drawn in what she must have thought they looked like in different expressions. On the front of the last page was a list of suspects. Almost every boy I'd ever known was on there. Even me. Some were crossed out, though. Some had stars by them, most likely indicating that that person was a likely candidate. I was one of those characters.

And on the back was a sketch of Astrid in a wedding dress, a man to her right with a question mark for a head.

Astrid's ears were hot red as she blushed and stammered and took the book from my hands, "Don't- show him that one!"

"You had a bigger crush than I thought, missy!" I joked, "Inermis is going to be extremely happy to hear this."

"Well, anyways," she started, handing the sketchbook back, "I filled up this one. Gotta start a new one."

"Are you gonna cross me off your suspects list?" I asked.

"No!" she took a pencil from the desk and flipped to the page. "You're even more of a suspect now!" Extra stars were placed around my name. Something in me whispered, "All the stars in her heart and eyes belong to you, boy," but I quickly squashed it before it could turn worse.

"Hey," I asked, changing the subject, "you wanna get a bite to eat before I drop this off at Inermis's place?"

A sneaky looked flashed in her eye before it disappeared and she said, "Sure. Ooh, can we get ice cream?"

"Sure. So long as you don't get ice cream on my handlebars."

Ten minutes later, we were comfortably eating our ice cream cones, the autumn breeze desperate to get our hair stuck in the sticky treat.

"You're about to drip," I said as drop of sweetness quivered on the edge of the cone. She quickly turned the cone, located the drop, and licked it clear. Hmm, I wondered, would I rather fall to the ground or be eaten?

I dropped her off at her house after we had finished and I'd paid. Taking the sketchbook with me, I decided to see Toothless. I had the odd feeling I was being followed, though, so I cut down many random streets and eventually the feeling was lost.

Once back in the cove with Toothless, all other feelings parked themselves in the box in my brain that was labeled, "Recycle."

Toothless was glad to see me, as always. We went for a quick ride before I deemed that something needed adjusting and I needed to go to the Cove.

"See you tomorrow, bud. Or whenever. Bye." As I left, I heard the snapping of twigs. I looked back at Toothless, who shrugged his dragon shrug and walked off. "Who's there?" I called.

"Hiccup?!" a voice said. A feminine, fairly familiar voice.

"Astrid, did you follow me here?" I asked, tapping my foot in impatience.

"Maybe..." she said sheepishly.

"What all did you see?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Alright then. I'm off to work. See ya!" I began to walk in the direction towards my bike.

"Take me with you?" her arm and voice stopped me.

"Sure. It seems I'm your valet at this point anyways."


	9. Chapter 9: Insanity

**IIII'MMMM BBAAAAAAACCKK!**

The stage was set up like an abandoned wood shop. Why was this so freakin' creepy? Because there were crazy, muder-you-in-your-sleep puppets lying all around.

After the full day with Astrid, I was ready for my selected performance. Some chick named Iron asked me to do a puppet themed dance to Rihanna's "Disturbia".

After listening to the song a couple of times, I definitely got a creepy/stalker vibe, and knew what to do with the puppet idea.

Dressed not as a puppet, but as a mix-match of clown and puppet, my normal _Phantom of the Opera_ mask was stowed away and replaced with a slightly unsettling red-smile mask. Next to my patchy purple and black striped pants, the best part of my costume was this: I wasn't wearing a hood.

No, no. I had found something much better to cover it with.

The edges of the scarf tickled my ears as I tied it around my head. Had I not looked so creepy, it would have been funny.

With my signaling words to JD, Luna, and Gobber, I took my place on the ground, carefully flopping so that I looked like a depressed, immovable puppet. Just as I tilted my head to just the right position, I spotted Astrid in the crowd. She looked... Blank.

Before I could dwell on it, computerized screaming brought me back to the matter at hand.

With the first beats, I acted as though being electrocuted, arching my back immensely and curling my fingers. My head lolled while the beats waited for lyrics. Finally, Rihanna began saying, "What's wrong with me?" I jerked my left arm up as if being pulled by a string attached to my wrist.

"Why do I feel like this?" My right arm and my head jerked back like my left arm. "I'm goin' crazy now..." If I had been able to shove my hands through my hair, I would have, but the scarf and identity issues were in the way, so stood up on my toes and leaned back with the top half of my body.

"No more gas, in the red," she sang. I wagged my finger, as I seem to do a lot, and fell backwards before catching myself. "Nothin' heard, nothin' said." I jumped on one hand, like a break dancer that I wish I could be, then jumped on the other in the same fashion. Next, I shook and shivered in a circle as the background girls said, "Can't even speak about it."

"On my life, on my head." I jumped into a handstand and pumped up and down. "Don't wanna think about it." Still in my handstand, I crossed my right hand behind my left and spun in a circle, careful not to trip.

"It's a thief, in the night, to come and grab you." I hopped out of my handstand and took on the classic thief pose, my hands in front of me like claws and my right leg stretched out behind my left.

"It can creep up inside you and consume you." My right leg slid back in a circle and I landed in a pouncing pose. "A disease of the mind, it can control you." My hands went up again and then crossed over one another a twisted me around like snakes trying to confuse me. "It's too close for comfort..." I did a backflip and turned in mid-air so I was then facing the audience.

"Put on your pretty lies, you're in the city of wonder." My elbows went up and my knees went slack and I moved as though controlled by strings.

"Ain't gon play it nice, watch out, you might just go under." I yanked my arms down, pretending to break my strings. Sliding out of view, I got on top of the edge of the wood shop. No one could see me. "Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered." Praying that this would not result in injury, I hooked my feet onto an unseen pipe and dangled out above my workshop, feigning fear and confusion as to how I'd gotten there.

"So if you must falter, be wise." I twisted my body and landed neatly on the ground with a finger to my masked lips.

"Your mind, it's in Distubia." In hopes of creating intrigue, I shot out my left arm like it had been pulled.

"It's like the darkness is alive." The same arm that had been pulled (by me, technically) curved upward and, with a claw hand, pretended to reach inside of me.

For the next three lyrics I simply did more flips and twists and unnecessarily dramatic hand gestures. The beats kept rocking though, so I tried something I never had before. With each "bum, bum," I made my feet go two inches farther apart until, by the time the words started back up, I was down into a very painful, albeit rewarding, splits. **(A/N I ASSUME IT'S PAINFUL. I MEAN, I'M A CHICK AND I'VE NEVER DONE A SPLITS BEFORE, SO...)**

As soon as the lovely Rihanna began the first syllable, I sprang out of my uncomfortable position and into one slightly less painful: I pretended as though I were running, flashlight in hand, through an old abandoned hallway. She sang out, "Faded pictures on the wall," and in the background, "It's like they talkin' to me."

"Disconnection' all the calls (the phone, don't even ring)." Not really having anything NOT cheesy for this one, I simply decided to play it by ear, and jumped into a handstand where both of me legs stretched so far they touched opposite sides of the floor.

"I gotta get out, or figure this sh** out." Being the "excellent" mime I am, I pushed on those imaginary walls, but they wouldn't give, so I scrunched my fingers in the scarf.

"It's too close for comfort..." Taking the hands from a top my head, I planted them on the floor and scrunched down, careful to kick out my legs so that my entire body relied on my hands.

For the next part, I pushed myself up and into another handstand. My arms were far enough apart that what I did next took little effort: I swung my legs through the gap and landed neatly.

About two minutes later, my disturbing dance to "Disturbia" (again with the alliteration!) was finally over. The crowd roared. I only heard one voice though.

"Inermis! I love you! Tell Hiccup I said hey!" shouted Astrid. Before I could think about what that meant, though, another voice broke into my sieged mind.

"Inermis! Please show us who you are!" shouted Iron, the girl who'd picked my dance tonight.

"You're amazing! We won't hurt you! Please, we want to know!" shouted a random guy three rows back.

Never had I seen the crowd so rough and rowdy. They were actually frightening me now. I began to back up, uncertain of their intentions.

The whole purpose of Inermis was so Hic- I could dance freely, without judgement. But now I'd been judged, but in a good way. People wanted to know who was behind the mask. Maybe the time for Inermis had expired? I began to reach up, taking a deep breath, seconds away from revealing who I was. But my gaze flickered down to Astrid. Her eyes were so big and beautiful with anticipation. She probably thought that she was finally going to see the amazingly handsome guy of her dreams.

But all she would see was... Me. Hiccup. Useless. And Hiccup didn't want to see the disappointed look on her face when she saw it was just... Him.

I turned away, putting my hand back at my side. With the chorus of groaning voices, I exited the stage.

* * *

"What the heck was that?!" Astrid said as I pedaled her home.

"Inermis just got nervous, I guess," I said, trying my best to clean up the reputation of my alter ego.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, "You should knock some sense into your friend!"

I desperately wanted to ask why she'd told Inermis to tell me hey. But I kept my lips zipped because she didn't know I knew that she'd said that... Then again, she'd told him to tell me that she'd said that, right? I groaned mentally. Why did girls have to be so confusing? (**A/N I DON'T REALLY KNOW ABOUT THIS, SEEING AS I MYSELF AM A GIRL. BUT, ANSWER ME THIS, WHY ARE BOYS SO FRICKIN' CONFUSING?!)**

Out of nowhere, my dad's (MY DAD'S!) car pulled up. "Oh there you are, Hiccup. I've been lookin' all over fer ya."

"Why?" I asked in my blunt teenager way.

"A talent scout from New York City called. Said they saw you perform, and wanted to talk to ya."

"Really?!" my voice squeaked. As soon as my eyebrows returned from my hairline, I began worrying about Astrid. Would she figure out I'm Inermis like this? I mean, if she did find out, it would at least be a lot more romantic and way less blunt than this...

"Really?!" Astrid said from my handlebars.

"Yeah. They said to call back soon. See ya later, Hiccup," my dad said, already driving away and not paying attention to us.

I began pedaling, my tires plunging into the shocked silence.

"Are you gonna go?" Astrid asked as we turned the final corner to her house.

"Huh?"

"Are you going to go? To New York, I mean." She seemed almost saddened by the prospect, and the part of me with no respect for emotions was fist pumping wildly that she would be sad to see me go.

But compassionate Hiccup had the reins, and he said, "Maybe. Do you want me to?"

"No!" she said without missing a beat. "I mean, I wouldn't want you to leave, per se, but I do want you to follow your dreams."

"It depends," I said, "but I think I'd rather stay here. Most of my dreams are here." Like you, I added mentally. And Toothless. And Inermis. But mostly you, Astrid.

"Hey, you know the song Inermis danced to tonight?" she asked sadly.

"Yeah?"

"It's kinda like our lives."

"How so?"

"They're both insane."

**A COUPLE OF ANNOUNCEMENTS:**

**1.) FIRST OFF, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO FLIPPED OUT WHEN YOU SAW 'ANNOUNCEMENTS', THIS STORY IS NOT DONE.**

**2.) MY CURRENT COMMITMENTS DO NOT ALLOW ME A LOT OF FREE TIME, SO I WILL MOST LIKELY NOT POST EVERY WEEK, BUT I WILL TRY TO POST OFTEN.**

**3.) I'M NOT A CHOREOGRAPHER. YOU DON'T LIKE MY MOVES, YOU DON'T READ MY STORIES. TREAT THESE ONES SPECIAL, BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET THEM OFTEN. THESE CHAPTERS, I MEAN. THEY'RE HARD TO WRITE.**

**4.) MY FRIENDS AND I HAVE DECIDED THAT AUDIO-ANIMATRONIC CHUCK E. CHEESE WILL HAUNT MY NIGHTMARES FOR WEEKS.**


	10. Chapter 10: Inimical

"I'm afraid you do have competition, Mr. Haddock," said Irene Karr, the talent scout from New York.

It felt weird to be called 'Mr. Haddock', but it felt even weirder to be talking to someone who wanted me to come with them.

"Would it be okay if I asked who?" I said.

"His name, I believe, is Inermis. He too is qualified for this spot as a male performer at Seman Pu Enod Performing Arts."

Oh. My. Frickin'. Gosh. Not only am I competing with Inermis for Astrid's attention. Now I'm competing against myself for my dream!

I laughed into the phone. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

What was I going to do? I couldn't give up my dream like that. But no matter who refused, I would still go. Wait. I would still go. That'd just be another clue, wouldn't it? If I left, Inermis would too. If he left, I would too. I could just say I'd gone with my best friend. I'd take Toothless with me...

"Ma'am, I'm ashamed to admit this, but I don't think I can compete against him. He's just so good. I'd never beat him."

"You could at least try. You two are the most qualified I've seen! Just, please, come try, watch him, see where you'd go."

I thought for a second before saying, "Fine. Where is it?"

"Final auditions are at the gym at Falsus Apello Performing Arts School. On Monday."

"Monday?! That only gives me one day to practice!"

"Monday. Good luck, Mr. Haddock. See you there."

The call ended with a click. A breathed out a stress sigh and flopped back on my couch. What was I going to do? Either way, I was going. But who to send? Or maybe we could both refuse?

Huffing, I picked the phone and called Astrid. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, Hiccup. How'd the call with the talent scout go?"

"That's the thing. I'm up against myself."

"What?"

Oops. "No! I meant... I'm up against Inermis. And, you know, he's my best friend, so it's like I'm going against myself."

"Oh. Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Could you come over?" I glanced at the clock. 10:00 at night wasn't a terrible time to practice, right?

"Um... Sure. I'll be right over."

After ten minutes of me reading The Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock, my door burst open and quickly slammed shut. Astrid, her hair strewn, was panting and trying to catch her breath.

"Did you run here?" I asked getting up to go over to her.

"Ye- Yeah."

"Do you want something to drink? Or eat?" I asked.

"Are you alone in this house?" she asked, taking a seat at the table. "Where's your dad? Or your mother?"

I winced. While familiar with the subject (more like leading expert), it still stung a little to mention that I basically had no parents.

"I mean, I saw your dad..." she trailed off when she saw the look of hurt on my face. "What's wrong?"

"My- My mother died, remember? And my father has basically abandoned me," I choked out, trying really hard not to cry in front of her.

"What?!" she said, coming over towards me. She gave me a big hug, one that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I buried my head in her shoulder in an attempt not to cry.

"You shouldn't be out here on your own. We should call the government, they'll keep you safe. Or maybe you could come live at my house. You shouldn't be alone, though," she rambled.

"Thanks Astrid. But hey, I've got you here right now, so I'm perfectly happy to remain here as long as you keep coming to visit."

We let go of each other at the same time. She reached up to her hair and pulled at it. When it was clear this was going to be one of those awkward moments, she sat back down at the table. "Water please."

"Certainly, madam," I bowed, our moment completely forgotten. "Cubed or crushed?"

"Cubed, please, good sir," she giggled.

I got a cup out of the cupboard and opened up the refrigerator to the ice box. "Hey, you wanna go over our skit for HUAT?"

"Oh my gosh! I COMPLETELY forgot about that!" she shouted, standing straight up.

"Well... It was given like two weeks ago. But it isn't due until... Wednesday, I think."

"So we have three days to practice. You want to now?"

"Sure," I said, handing her the glass. She took off her coat, hung it on the chair, chugged the water, puckered her lips from a brain freeze, and clapped her hands. "Let's do this!"

We, after much debate had decided on the scene from the middle where Jack and May are playing around and almost kiss. And this would definitely be one of the most nerve-racking and awkward things I've ever done in my life.

**POSTING ON A WEEKDAY, WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!**

**ANYWAYS, I HAD AN IDEA DECIDED TO GO FOR IT, HERE WE ARE. HAVE A GOOD WEEK... TIMES TWO! SHOOT ME SOME IDEAS IF YA GOT 'EM! AND TO THAT, THANKS TO MY FRIEND WHO SUGGESTED AND OC NAMED ROSE. I THINK I KNOW WHERE TO GO WITH THAT...**


	11. Chapter 11: Indigo (Updated)

I sighed. Monday had come too quickly.

"Are you ready, Inermis?" Karr said.

I was back at my sign language. "Yes," I said. Signed.

The only people in the bleachers were Karr and a translator for my sign language. It was nice not having an audience for once.

And so I danced. I can't remember the moves. Or the song. I just remember that I did it, and it felt wonderful. Everything went by in a blur. All I had to think about was moving to the beat and maybe even impressing Karr at the same time. There were flips and jumps and tumbles and shoulder-shrugs and splits and sweat and breathing and _New York_ and _Astrid_ and _Toothless_ and _what am I even doing and-_ STOP. When I stopped, Karr put down her pencil and clapped her hands as I panted.

"Impressive, Inermis. I understand that that is your stage name?"

Amazingly enough, they had let me wear my costume and keep my name. That wasn't lasting long, though.

"Yes."

"What is your real name?" In the background, I heard a door open up, but I could barely hear it over the roaring in my ears. I shook my head, saying I didn't want to answer.

"We have to know, or else you will not be allowed into the school."

This was not the first time I had been asked, though it was the first time it had been asked by an important person. An actually important person. A horrible, sticky pit of finality filled my chest. This, Inermis, was done. At least for now, for these people.

As much as I loved being Inermis, it was killing me. Keeping this secret was like a boulder in your shoe. It was super painful, huge, annoying, and you just _can't stop thinking about it. _It drives you nuts. Who do they want you to be? Who do you want to be? Would they like you still? Would they respect your decision? Would you lose everything if you told the truth?

So many people loved Inermis. But I didn't. And maybe, just for these people, I could lift off some of my burden.

I ripped off my hood and shook out my hair. "My name is Hiccup Haddock."

Her eyebrows shot up. "This is a surprise. Well. That makes my life easier. Congrats. You and Hiccup 'both' get to go to New York."

There was a small gasp behind me; I turned to see who it was, but they were already out the door.

Oh no.

They knew my secret.

Whoever it was knew my secret.

Oh my gosh. They know. My secret. The world might as well have just exploded. My secret. Was out. Spaces intentional.

"I- I'm sorry, I have to go." I said to Karr. I put my mask in my bag and ignored my hood, running out of the gym with my bag banging against my leg. My eyes scanned the hallway in a desperate attempt to find him or her. I spotted a dark brown head.

I grabbed her arm. She spun around to face me. All the dramatic noise in my head stopped. This girl... Woah.

She had one blue eye, crystal blue. The other eye was green. _My_ color green. Her maple colored hair fell in straight curls, which was strange in and of itself, but really cool and pretty at the same time. "Hello," she squeaked.

"Hi..." I whispered.

She pulled back her arm and stood awkwardly in front of me. "So... It's really cool to meet you. I'm a huge fan."

"Wh- What?" I said. There were stars spinning around my head, I was sure. And in my eyes...

"Inermis. I'm a fan. I mean, I've seen almost every Saturday performance. You rock."

"And... And now you know who I am." The panic really started kick in now. My hands went up in my hair as I began to hyperventilate. My bag dropped to the floor with a thud.

"Woah, woah, woah! What's wrong? Why are you breathing so hard?" she panicked.

"You can't-" Gasp. "know my-" Gasp. "secret!" Gasp.

She bent down and wrapped me in an awkward hug. "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"Really?" This girl was already very high up on my list of friends.

"Sure. Why would I tell? You're just a regular teen like me. I'll respect your issues." She looked at me as an equal even though most girls would flirt with Inermis (not me). This was so refreshing that I sighed in relief. Finally. Someone who didn't want to steal away my alter ego and marry him.

"Thanks. You have no idea how much that means to me. Hey, what's your name?" I said nonchalantly.

"Rosalinda Indigo. You can call me Rose." She giggled and walked away. "See you tomorrow!" she called with an arm thrown back as a wave.

This would be the start to a wonderful new friendship. I could tell.

**HOLA AMIGOS. COME ESTÁS? YO? MUY BIEN, MUCHAS GRACIAS!**

**I KNOW, I KNOW. NO UPSIDE-DOWN PUNCTUATION. BUT THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN YA TYPE.**

**I HOPE YOU ENJOYED. NOW GO TO SLEEP.**

**P.S. THANKS Anony mouse101 FOR YOUR SUGGESTION OF ROSE. SHE WILL BECOME IMPORTANT... I THINK.**


	12. Chapter 12: Irreplaceable

**SORRY FOR THAT. I'M TIRED AND I DON'T REALLY WANT TO THINK AND OH MY GOSH I DON'T WANT TO WRITE RIGHT NOW AND JUST UGH.**

**YOUR CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED, BUT DO SO NICELY, PLEASE.**

**SO. GIVE ME YOUR OPINION ON INDIGO... ROSE, I MEAN.  
**  
"So how'd it go?" Astrid asked. I had changed out of my costume and left the school after I met Rose- Indigo. Should I call her Indigo? It's such a cool name... Off topic. After I'd changed, I went outside and found Astrid.

"Did you know that goats have square pupils?" I said, attempting to avoid the elephant in the, er, road.

"So you didn't get? That sucks." She only sounded half sorry for me. The other half sounded relieved.

"I did," I whispered.

"Oh. That's, um... That's great," she choked. All the relief was gone. She sounded... sad. Utterly disappointed.

"Inermis and I are leaving at the end of the semester. So... Maybe... Six weeks? I'll probably have to leave earlier than that." The idea of uprooting my life hadn't fully hit me yet, but I'm sure it would soon. And I wasn't ready for that wave of urgh hit me, so I shook off the thought.

"I- I'm happy for you." She pulled in a deep breath as we walked my bike down the sidewalk. When she looked at me, I could have sworn I saw a wetness that wasn't usually there.

"What's wrong?" I stopped.

"Nothing's wrong," she covered.

"Come on. Tell me." She looked unpersuaded. "Tell me," I prodded. "Ya know ya wanna."

She sighed. "I guess I'm just sad that you're gonna have to leave..."

I, in one of those all-you-need-is-twenty-seconds-of-insane-courage moments, grabbed her hand. She looked down at out intertwined hands and then looked at me with a sort of covered awe. "Hey," I said, "it's not like I'll never see you again. And we can still text and call. Once I get a phone..."

She snorted through her sadness, making two solitary tears pop out. "You don't have a phone?"

I smiled. "No, I have a phone. I just knew it would make you laugh."

"Well," she wiped her eyes, "it won't be the same. But, yeah, let's try that."

"I can call you my friend, can't I?" I asked out of the blue.

Astrid looked up from our still-intertwined hands that she'd been smiling- smiling!- at. "What?"

"Are you my friend?"

"Yes." She squeezed my hand. "You're my best friend. So I hope that I'm at least your friend. Am I your friend right?"

"I wouldn't take you to Venustas if you weren't my friend," I smiled. She smiled back. With one last squeeze, I released our hands and patted my handlebars. "Ride home?"

"I'd rather go to yours..." she grumbled.

"Is there a reason?"

"No, I just like hanging out with you more than my drawings of Inermis."

My smile widened. "Sure."

Astrid hopped onto the handlebars once I'd settled on. With a groan, my bike began to speed down the sidewalk to my house.

"So... I gotta ask. Who was that girl who came running out of the school?" Astrid asked nonchalantly. Or at least she tried to sound nonchalant. She flicked at a loose piece of rubber and I could almost hear the slight pout in her voice.

"Indigo." I shook my head. "No, sorry, her name's Rose. We, uh, bumped into each other in the hallway..."

"What'd ya talk about?" she said almost passively.

"Uh..." I looked around to find something to inspire a lie. My eyes landed on what I guess would work. "We, um, talked about, uh, grass. Yeah, we talked about grass. Good ol' grass. Can't get enough of it."

"That's kind of strange."

"And dragons! We talked about dragons!" Which technically wasn't a lie, as Inermis was derived from a dragon.

She sighed. Again. "Was she pretty?"

"Very."

Her shoulders slumped.

"But nothing compared to you, Astrid."

**DON'T GET SPOILED. I JUST FELT LIKE I OWED YOU.**


	13. Chapter 13: Interrogatives

"You should do your homework," I laughed when we got to my house.

"Fine. But after that, can we practice our skit?" Astrid asked.

"Sure. Like I'm going to be able to stop you."

Astrid dropped her backpack onto a chair and literally plopped down into it. She pulled out a binder, flipped to a page, dug for a pencil, and began her homework.

As long as she was doing her homework, I figured I'd better do mine. Sighing, I sat in a chair across from hers and pulled out my homework binder. The first thing I saw that I had to do was a sheet of questions about writing. Of. Course.

The first question asked, "What is your definition of mood, and how have you demonstrated it in your writing?" Most of the questions were like is, easy but long. I breezed through them in twenty minutes, but the last question...

"Why, in novels and novellas, is it sometimes interesting to see a major character sounded or deceased and another major character reacting?"

I blinked. This question was definitely out of the blue.

But at the same time, it made complete sense.

I scrawled down, "In my personal opinion, these scenes are where pure emotion is revealed. When one character feels that he or she will lose their love interest, they panic because it's like an early due date; they thought they had all this time to be with one another and go slow even though they're totally head-over-heels. Then, that fantasy just kinda crumbles because they fear, they're terrified that, the person they love will be ripped away from them and they won't have gotten to confess their feelings.

"An interesting way to view these scenes is who the character who gets hurt is and who the other character is. I have noticed, in some novels and stories, that the one who gets hurt is the weaker of the two. I believe this is because this scene allows a whole new view on the stronger character: one gets to see their weak side."

"What'd ya get for the last question?" Astrid asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Here," I sighed, handing her the paper. There was too much to read aloud.

Her eyes quickly scanned the answer. When she was done, she looked right into my eyes and said, "Crap. You."

I raised my eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Crap. You," she smiled, "Now I can't use that answer. I would because it's so good, but then Mrs. Rite will know I looked at your paper."

"Just find a different way to explain it," said I, folding my arms.

"How?" she groaned.

"I dunno, figure it out." I unfolded myself from my stance and took out more homework.

She barked out a laugh, which turned into a sigh.

Three hours later, I dropped my pencil onto the table, closed my binder, and pretended to scream as a stretched out my curled, tired hand.

"Done?" she asked with a smirk.

"Finally."

"Me, too," she smiled and wiggled her eyebrows, "You know what that means."

I looked up at her goofy grin and sighed in defeat. "Fi-"

I was cut-off.

"HICCUP!" boomed a voice at the door.

Dad.

I turned in my seat. "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Oh, nothin'. Except that, I dunno, I just got a call from a Mrs. Karr saying that YOUR GOIN' TO NEW YORK!"

I winced. "Hum. I, uh... I guess I forgot to, um, tell you." Not that you would listen, my mind said.

"Huh, YEAH." He hadn't noticed Astrid until then. "Oh, um, hello?"

"He said awkwardly," I mumbled.

"Hello again," she said.

Dad looked at with a hard gleam. "We're talking about this later, young man." And with that, he marched upstairs.

"So..." I said, "You, uh, wanna practice?"

"Sure."

We went outside, where it was still light and my dad couldn't hear us and got into position.

"Wha... What's th- that?" Astrid stammered with wide eyes, pointing behind me.

I turned behind me to see a brooding pile of black scales that I believed I'd named Toothless.

That useless reptile.

**I SUPPOSE AN EXPLANATION IS IN ORDER:**

**6.) INSECURITIES- HICCUP MUST EXPLAIN THE INSECURITIES OF INERMIS- ER, HIMSELF, TO ASTRID.**

**7.) ITINERANT- A PERSON WHO TRAVELS FROM PLACE TO PLACE. PRETTY SELF EXPLANATORY.**

**8.) INTRIGUE- YEAH, I DON'T REALLY KNOW. MAYBE THAT SUSPENSE IS BUILDING, GIVING IT INTRIGUE?**

**9.) INSANITY- THE SO G IS LITERALLY ABOUT GOING INSANE.**

**10.) INIMICAL- IT MEANS THAT SOMETHING IS THREATENING, AND HICCUP IS IN A, YOU KNOW, SOMEWHAT THREATENING SITUATION.**

**11.) INDIGO- IN WHICH A NEW CHARACTER OF THE ROSE INDIGO SORT IS INTRODUCED.**

**12.) IRREPLACEABLE- SHE IS IRREPLACEABLE TO HIM AND VICE VERSA. OR AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT THEY TOLD ME.**

**13.) INTERROGATIVES- QUESTIONS!**


	14. Chapter 14: Intrusion

**OH, P. S., I JUST SAW ENDER'S GAME. EPIC. IT IS NOW LIKE MY SECOND FAVORITE MOVIE.**

"Uh, huh, umm..." I laughed. My cheeks were smoldering red, I could feel it, but the rest of me was cold and pale and shaking.

Toothless. _Toothless_.

"Get behind me," Astrid said through gritted teeth. She held her arms out, hands posed in case of an attack.

Toothless roared. Roared loud, loud enough for-

"HICCUP!" shouted a voice, my father's, from the porch.

All of a sudden, I was thrown on the ground, slumped on the dirt behind my father, who had joined Astrid's side. They both stood in I-will-seriously-kill-you-because-I-want-to-look-c ool poses, "protecting" me.

Toothless got on his haunches, teeth bared, ear plates up. A thousand questions swirled through my mind in an interrogative tornado. For starters, how and why was Toothless here?

Those would have to wait, though. All three entities were ready to kill.

I jumped up in between them.

Astrid didn't notice me move, and so she was lunging towards Toothless. Using the only defense I knew, which involved dancing (pathetic, right?), I threw her away from Toothless. The way she held herself, the way she fell- I could see panic.

I turned and held out my hands, in what I hope was a comforting manner, to Toothless, who was now rearing up in confusion and panic.

"It's- It's okay, Toothless," I whispered, "They're friends."

He shot an annoyed glare at me and then sat down, fidgeting under my palm. His eyes stared daggers at my father and Astrid. If looks could kill...

Astrid stood up and warily- and somewhat angrily- put her hands out beside her in a defensive manner.

My father lunged out at my dragon, hands posed to either rip off his head or strangle him (I couldn't decide which; the finger positions of the two are very similar).

I moved my neck in the way of his hands. Dad's meaty hands stopped just short of my neck. I stared him down. I told him with as much confidence and finality as he'd ever heard me use, "NO."

Although I've never been good at reading eyes (How in the world do they show emotions as specific as traumatized sadness? I don't get it!), I could see plainly that his were dipped, shaken, and stirred- positively drowned- in confusion and fury.

"What do ya mean 'no?!'" he shouted. He tried to move me out of the way.

I did not budge. "I mean _NO_. You will NOT touch this animal as long as my lungs have the capacity to take breath and my heart has the ability to pump blood into my body. You won't _touch_ him, or _think_ about him, or anything about him until the Twentieth of Never. If he dies, _I_ will die, I promise you this."

Their eyes widened. I felt Astrid's, didn't see it. I could feel the shift, the shift of my senses. That always happened when she was around, I suppose. An over-acuteness of the senses. **(A/N REFERENCE TO "THE TALE-TELL HEART" BY EDGAR ALLAN POE, IF YOU DIDN'T CATCH THAT)**

"What the heck is wrong with you?! Move out of the way!" Dad said.

"Did you not just hear me?" I glared, "I will protect this dragon with my _life_."

By the way Dad shifted, I could tell that he had just come across a startling piece of information.

"How... How is it not attacking you?" he asked warily.

"First of all, it is a he. Second of all, uh... I have no idea." My confidence was slipping away. I had to get Toothless out of there fast before anything else could happen or my resolve slipped for good.

As both of them looked like they were seconds away from killing both Toothless and I, I sighed with resolution.

"Toothless, Astrid. Astrid, Toothless. Dad, Toothless. Toothless, Dad."

With a firm stare and not another word, I leapt onto the saddle, and we took off.

**I HAVE A SPECIAL THANK-YOU TODAY: StorSpeaker IS NOW MY BETA! WOOP, WOOP! SO ABOUT MAYBE A FIFTH OF THE CRED GOES TO HIM?**

**IT HAS OCCURRED TO ME THAT I SHOULD LIST RELATED TITLES. THIS STORY WAS INSPIRED BY:**

**"Roses and Silver Scales" by ObsessesEasily**

**"The Beat" by Emiko Sora**

**AND THAT'S IT! GOOD DAY, FOLKS, GOODBYE!**


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